Business Briefing / Markets

Exchange CEOs seek rule changes

Chief executives from four U.S. stock exchanges sent a joint letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to have new rules instituted to restrict short selling.

In a letter to SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro, the heads of NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and two smaller exchanges proposed a rule that would curb "abusive" short selling, which "destroys the overall confidence in our capital markets."

The new rules would go beyond the previous "uptick" rule curbing short selling, which had been in place since the 1930s until being rescinded in 2007.